R50 + bluetooth..

[Lewis]

hello all,

i finally got the add on card, so now i have both bluetooth and modem on my R50.
my problem that driver is installed ok, but the icon on the tray says "no bluetooth device" !
I can switch on and off the bluetooth with fn+f5, but i cant make it available to other applications..


any suggestions ?

[cynic]

I'm almost absolutely sure that you're IBM bluetooth driver in installed incorrectly. You have to make sure the Microsoft one doesn't exist on your system anymore. Turn your BT on, go to the device manager and turn on "show hidden devices" in the view section. See if you have anything listed as Microsoft for "Bluetooth Enumerator" or "Bluetooth Radio"--if so, uninstall it (right click on it and uninstall) Then go to the IBM Bluetooth Radio entry (and this has to be there or you're farther back than I think in the install process.) Double click on it and write up what is shown on Driver Details/Properties here. It should be a "unsigned" driver. If not, click on "update driver" and point it to the directory you unpacked the IBM BT driver to (usually C:\IBMTOOLS\ or C:\DRIVERS followed by a child directory) Choose the unsigned driver and let it update. Don't worry about Microsoft's warnings.

[Lewis]

you are absolutely right.

i followed your instructions, step by step, and now i have my bluetooth adapter working fine..

thank you very much.

[cynic]

no problem and have fun with BT

I'm quickly getting addicted to buying BT devices. I've been using Skype to make calls to a friend in London and use a BT headset now with my laptop (I used to use the internal speakers+mic, but sometimes the sound would echo too much).. it's great. Plus, I can use the same headset with my SE T616 phone (which also syncs back to Outlook through BT.)

[Lewis]

no problem and have fun with BT

I'm quickly getting addicted to buying BT devices. I've been using Skype to make calls to a friend in London and use a BT headset now with my laptop (I used to use the internal speakers+mic, but sometimes the sound would echo too much).. it's great. Plus, I can use the same headset with my SE T616 phone (which also syncs back to Outlook through BT.)

any recommendations on BT headset ?

I use my BT to sync my Nokia 3650 and my wife's 7650 to outlook..

[cynic]

I bought the Jabra Freespeak BT250.

My evaluation was concerned with:
1) Voice pickup without background noise (including windnoise since I like to drive with the windows open)
2) Long battery life
3) How securely it fit/comfort.
4) BT reception distance

This one isn't the most stylish or smallest, but it scored by my opinion the highest in the 4 cases above. Everything else really did pale in comparison (and I really wanted one of those tiny ones that just sit at your ear, but they had really dissappointing sound quality. )

Be careful also about what BT profiles your phone and headset supports. There are two BT profiles ("Headset Profile" and "Handsfree Profile" ) which have slightly different functionality and some headsets/phones support both and some only support one or the other. Luckily, the ThinkPads built in profiles support both, so your limiting factors will be with your phone and whichever headset you choose.

The headsets I compared were:
HBH-65 from Sony Ericsson
Platronics M3500
Jabra Freespeak BT250 (headset and handsfree)
Motorola HS810
...I screened out all the others on the market because they got such bad reviews.

[sswany]

What did you think of the Motorola HS810?

[cynic]

What did you think of the Motorola HS810?

Looking up my notes (on Microsoft OneNote--excellent piece of software btw; at first I thought it had no point but now I use it like the perfect notebook and it actually doesn't consume much in the way of resources)

My notes mention that reception distance wasn't that great and that effected voice quality. I thought the plastic felt a little cheap. Really, really light. Since it's light, it sits on the ear easily it's just that the audio does not seem to "channel" well enough into your ear. It was, however, my second choice.